Monday, October 03, 2005

Lots to Cover, Let's Get Started

So... Harriet Miers? Really? I just wrote a press release for her a few months ago! I didn't meet her or anything, but... that's kinda cool, I guess.

Let's see, now. She was Bush's personal lawyer in Texas. And she's never been a judge before. Not even a Justice of the Peace.

Let's put her on the Supreme Court! Sure, why not?

The most transparent trial balloon, ever.

I think Dubya still wants Alberto up there, conservatives be damned.

***

A very preliminary version of Harmonium is up and running, by the way. I've contributed a few album reviews so far (search for eels, Supergrass or Stephen Malkmus, if you care), and more will be coming in the future. Feel free to check it out, and tell me what you think:

So how was your weekend? Haven't heard from you (yes, YOU) in a few days.

***

Denver turned out to be a really good time-- if I can figure out how to do so, I'll post a few pictures on here, so you can share the love.

The retreat was a bit rushed, though, as we only had one whole day in Denver (Friday and Sunday being travel days)... but getting to see everyone was a very good thing.

It's always nice to know what your co-workers look like.

***

My Friday flights were a mixed bag-- the first one a nice, quick flight, and the second one... it was spent sitting next to two screaming children for the first time in my life.

Not fun. You know the drill; I'll spare you the details.

Once I got to Denver, and the kids were out of my life, I met up with the Jaffe group. We all collected and took a van about two hours west of the airport, driving through the Rockies, past Vail and on to Avon, Colorado (there were about 15 of us, meeting with about 5 locally-based employees).

We stayed at an absolutely beautiful hotel-- good. Two people to a room-- not so good. Thankfully, I roomed with Jason, a good guy, and the two of us had ESPN on the entire weekend.

The only thing on the docket Friday was dinner at a family-style Mexican restaurant. Jay was nice enough to have "goodie bags" sitting out for everyone-- each contained a disposable camera for the weekend, a Jaffe hat, and a Jaffe parka. Very generous.

Unfortunately, soon after we sat down to eat, Jason started struggling with the elevation, and had to stand outside throughout the entire meal. Everyone wanted to help, and Cari went to the store next door to buy him some ginger ale-- and ended up being offered some weed, instead. How this happened, I don't know.

She did not buy any, for the record.

***

On the subject of health (and possibly the reason for Jason's difficulty), we'd been warned in advance to over-hydrate, to compensate for the mile-high nature of the area. So we were all drinking water, non-stop. I was fine, luckily enough... but all of us were transformed into "bathroom? where's the bathroom"-ranting idiots throughout the weekend. None of us were accustomed to drinking so much, so often.

Anyway.

Saturday morning meant a quick breakfast and a few "sessions"-- in which Jay told us that the company had undergone a difficult, mediocre year. Apparently the main reasons for this were that we're in the middle of a strategic shift, with lots of marketing changes, that sort of thing... and that Jay had been dealing with a lawsuit filed by a former disgruntled employee. That, and Jay's heart surgery. So, there was a lot going on in 2005 that was "out of the norm."

All signs point to a successful 2005/2006, however... so there's a lot of reason to be optimistic. Very optimistic, in fact.

Then we took some photos. If you check the Jaffe website in a month or so (and I know you will), you'll see that we'll have multiple photos next to our profiles... I think they'll be moving, flipbook style, creating a mini-movie of sorts. Should be cool.

After the morning meetings, we took a Jeep tour into the mountains. We saw very little snow, but... just incredible sightseeing. The trip was not for the queasy-- it was 3 hours of up and down, side to side (get your mind out of the gutter), at never more than 5-10 miles an hour, which was perfect. Thankfully, I was in the front seat the whole team, so I saw the bumps coming. It made life a little easier.

Saturday night was dinner at an Italian restaurant, and Sunday morning a quick breakfast before taking the shuttle back to the airport. If it seems as though we did more eating than strategizing... you'd be right. But then the main reason for the retreat was to socialize-- it wasn't for business. So all was well.

I got to the airport at 10:30 local time on Sunday morning, and caught a standby flight at 11:30. It was awesome to get it, as I wasn't scheduled to leave until 3:30 pm local (the trip was originally supposed to last a bit longer).

So, I get to O'Hare, and... storms. Maintenance issues. Delays. I end up stranded until 9:30 pm or so, and walk in the door at midnight. I spent the entire day at the airport. Uccchhh.

Which would have been horrible, but for football. Sadly, all I could find was the Vikings-Falcons debacle, but I was getting scores (and frequent updates from my Dad, for which I will be eternally grateful).

***

The Eagles? Yeah, they're kinda good. :)

***

So, I give Abby a call, to let her know what's going on and to tell her when I'll be home... and I ask her if she could walk Venus this morning, as I would likely be completely spent.

Yeah, she tells me she might not be able to, as she thinks she may have sprained her ankle. Not playing sports, just... it just happened, apparently.

I haven't spoken with her today... so, I really have no idea how this happened, or how she's doing.

***

Despite this, and despite waking up at an ungodly hour despite my better intentions, I am very glad to be home.